new orleans: coquette: review

Our first stop in New Orleans was Coquette, which is in the Garden District. My son saw it featured on a cooking show.

It's in a long space that at first looks like a turn of the century bar with tiled floor and giant mirrors and woodwork. Closer inspection reveals that it's all new, but it's a nice long space with very high ceilings and nice lighting.

We were early but they set us up in no time. There are no bad tables in this space since they run along the bar. We started with two "shares" which are big plates...to share. First was fried chicken. It was boneless thighs, brined with an elaborate crunchy crust. It was nice not dealing with bones and focusing on the juicy dark meat and spicy crust (paprika). The dipping sauce was whipped honey, a clever molecular trick that involves soy protein?

Next was hanger steak, cooked sous vide with Worcestershire sauce for 24 hours then perfectly seared. There was a great meat-based barbecue sauce, but it seemed a shame since the meat was so tender and deeply flavorful.

We shared their gumbo which features crawfish and oysters. It was delicious but I'm still not sure how I feel about the touch of vinegar they added.

There was a small dish of crabmeat over corn pudding with cherry tomatoes. It's not crab season but the crab tasted fresh. The Louisiana rice with shrimp and hog's headcheese (don't panic) was delicious. I was reminded of the stuffed guinea hen I had at Coq Rico. What I thought were mushrooms in the stuffing was in fact a diced pigs foot.

We had one large plate: red snapper, boneless, perfectly cooked with some charred kale that was actually quite tasty (Jeremiah Tower: "Even cows won't eat baby kale.")

Desserts were spectacular. In order of increasing deliciousness: a crème brûlée flavored with thyme (only criticism: lose the creamy stuff on top: not needed); a small chocolate hockey puck with crumble; and a "dulcey crémeux" which was a delicious small blob of caramel next to a small, chewier peanutty cube with candied bacon. It was heavenly.

Excellent Chinon by M. Plouzeau 2014 which they were nice about chilling. We also tried a dessert Sauvignon Blanc which was blindingly sweet.

Coquette

2800 Magazine St. New Orleans, LA

Grade: A+